Geographical Variation of Systems of Sibling Terms in Asia and Africa
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Chitsuko Fukushima
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of geographical variation of sibling term systems used in Asia and Africa, which are categorized based on distinctions of (1) relative age, (2) sex, and (3) relative sex. Experts in languages/language groups of Asia and Africa have analyzed and mapped these systems; using their findings, I created summative maps showing the geographical distributions of the system types based on rates (percentages) of each type. Type A (undifferentiated sibling type) is conspicuous in Africa. Type B (relative age type) is used in many languages in Africa and Southeast Asia. Type C (skewed age type) commands an absolute majority in languages of Northeast Asia and is also found in Southeast Asia. The change of Type A > Type B > Type C is inferred from these systems’ distributions. Type D (age/sex type) is the only type in Sinitic, and has affected neighboring languages. Type E (brother/sister type) holds the vast majority in Semitic and South Asian languages and has affected surrounding languages. Type F (relative sex type) and its variations are found in peripheral languages in Asia and Africa; this might be the oldest type. This interpretation is supported by attested changes in Japonic.
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on a presentation given at SIDG 10 at Bucharest, Romania, in September 2023 (Fukushima 2023b). I appreciate the comments given by the participants.
This work has been supported by: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, April 2015–March 2018 ILCAA Joint Research Project: Studies in Asian Geolinguistics (jrp000210), with Mitsuaki Endo as coordinator; Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, April 2020–March 2023 ILCAA Joint Research Project: Studies in Asian and African Geolinguistics (jrp000256), with Mitsuaki Endo as coordinator; and JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP19K00555.
The members of the 2020–2023 project involved in the investigation of the sibling data are the following linguists: ONO Chikako (Chukotko-Kamchatkan), FUKAZAWA Mika (Ainu), FUKUSHIMA Chitsuko (Japonic), FUKUI Rei (Korean), YAGI Kenji (Sinitic), TAGUCHI Yoshihisa and Baiyan Tang (Hmong-Mien), HIRANO Ayaka, ENDO Mitsuaki, and TOMITA Aika (Kra-Dai), KURABE Keita, EBIHARA Shiho, IWASA Kazue, SHIRAI Satoko, and SUZUKI Hiroyuki (Tibeto-Burman), SHIMIZU Masaaki and MINEGISHI Makoto (Austroasiatic), UTSUMI Atsuko (Austronesian), MATSUMOTO Ryo (Tungusic and Uralic), SAITÔ Yoshio (Mongolic and Turkic), YOSHIOKA Noboru (South Asia), KODAMA Nozomi (Dravidian), IWASAKI Takamasa (Iranian), NAGATO Youichi (Semitic), NAKAO Shuichiro (Nilo-Saharan), SHINAGAWA Daisuke and KOMORI Junko (Niger-Congo), and KIMURA Kimihiko and NAKAGAWA Hirosi (Kalahari Basin Area). I express my sincere thanks to them.
References
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© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Artikel
- Prepositional Usage in Modern Irish: Range and Variation
- The North Ukrainian Dialect of Vyšneve in the East Slavic Context: Towards a Final Description (part 2)
- Geographical Variation of Systems of Sibling Terms in Asia and Africa
- Diversidad denominativa del Pisum sativum en español: una historia de variedad y confusión
- Quantitative Perspectives on the Geolinguistic Structures of Dialect Morphology in Austria
- A synchronic and diachronic reappraisal of Indo-European *dʱug̑ʱh2ter- ‘daughter’ and *suhxnú- ‘son’ in Celtic dialects, Insular and Continental
- Juegos con propósito para la anotación del Corpus Oral Sonoro del Español rural
- Besprechungen
- Besprechungen – Comptes rendus – Reseñas – Reviews
